Mets Find Answer
In the Crossword

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.—The atmosphere in the Mets clubhouse before a typical spring training game doesn't lend itself to the pursuit of intellectual fulfillment.

Loud music blares through the speakers, drowning out the noise from the multiple television screens overhead, all tuned to different channels. Coaches rush through the room, barking orders and further crowding the space. Some players seem to enjoy screaming for no apparent reason.

But tucked along a side wall, removed from the noise and the chaos, three Mets pitchers partake in a calmer, more professorial activity. Faces buried in a newspaper, pens in hand, Scott Atchison, Jeremy Hefner and Scott Rice spend their mornings racing to finish the daily crossword puzzle before first pitch.

And in doing so, this trio of amateur wordsmiths belongs to one of baseball's quirkiest subcultures: pitchers who double as crossword nerds.

"When you're in Beloit, Wis., or Davenport, Iowa, there's not a whole lot to do," Hefner said. "Professional baseball and crosswords go hand in hand because it's something that kills a little bit of time."

The connection between baseball and crossword puzzles goes back generations. Hotels and clubhouses provide newspapers for free, and experienced visiting clubhouse attendants will even print copies of the puzzle in advance, just in case.

Though the proliferation of smartphones and iPads in recent years hurt the popularity of crosswords somewhat, a dedicated group of diehards remains. While many players may peek at a puzzle, only a select few devote enough time and effort to transform them from a time-waster into a passion.

Mets legend Tom Seaver did crossword puzzles during his career. So did Ron Darling. Former Yankees pitcher (and Stanford grad) Mike Mussina got so good at them that he appeared in "Wordplay," a 2006 documentary about crossword puzzles.

"Being in the bullpen may look like a nice way to spend the afternoon, but it's probably a fairly stressful work environment," said Patrick Creadon, the film's director. "It's not surprising that they turn to crossword puzzles to keep their minds sharp and serve as a relaxing distraction."

The three Met crossword enthusiasts all said that wherever they go, they meet at least one or two players who also enjoy puzzles. And in virtually every case, they share a common trait: They are pitchers. Atchison, a 36-year-old journeyman, said, "I can't recall seeing too many position players doing them. I don't know why."

Rice proposed one possible explanation: "I think we're smarter than the hitters," he said with a smile. Hefner, overhearing his teammate, said, "Fair assumption."

Joking aside, the primary reason is probably much more mundane: Pitchers simply have more down time. Atchison, Hefner and Rice all started with crossword puzzles mostly just to fight off boredom.

"Now it's something that helps me slow my mind down," Rice said.

From a psychological perspective, it actually makes some sense that pitchers find comfort in crosswords. John F. Murray, a sports psychologist based in Palm Beach, Fla., called pitching and crossword puzzles "congruent activities."

Murray said the "narrow, external focus" used in pitching is not unlike the sort of focus required to solve a crossword puzzle, likening it, in some respect, to an activity like meditation. So while crosswords certainly won't make you a better pitcher, there is some reason to believe they could have a positive mental effect.

"A crossword puzzle also narrows your focus for a while," Murray said. "There is something about narrowing your focus that is psychologically beneficial to motor skills that involve hitting targets."

In the case of the three Mets, they all stumbled onto crosswords almost by accident. They picked up a newspaper one day early in their careers to pass the time, found the puzzle and tried to solve it. Quickly, they were hooked and added it to their daily routine. This trio generally sticks with the USA Today puzzle, but more advanced players have graduated to the New York Times. None of them claims to have been a particularly strong English student. But now they sit amid the chaos, quietly focusing down or across.

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